Possessive 's – Use

We use ’s to show that something belongs to a person (or pet), or to show relationships.

• This is Peter’s father. (the father of Peter)
• Peter and Mary’s car is red. (they share one car)
• My cat’s ears are white.

We also use ’s for shops and houses:

• I am at John’s. (John’s house)
• I need to go to the chemist’s. (chemist’s shop)

Possessive 's – Form

• Singular noun + ’s
  Anna’s clothes, Chris’s wife, the student’s book
• Plural noun ending in -s + ’ (apostrophe only)
  the students’ books, the boys’ toys, the teachers’ lounge
• Irregular plural + ’s
  the children’s toys, men’s clothes, women’s rights
• Two people sharing one thing: ’s on the last name
  Paul and Katherine’s house, Anna and George’s car
• Each person has one thing: ’s on each name
  Anna’s and George’s cars, Sally’s and Tim’s computers

Possessive 'of' – For Things

Use of (not 's) when talking about things belonging to other things.

• The end of the street ✅
• The street’s end ❌ (not used)
• A picture of the eclipse ✅
• The eclipse’s picture ❌
• The man of the match ✅
• The match’s man ❌

Compound Nouns

For common word pairs, we often use them together without of or ’s.

• a school bus
• the city centre
• the car key

Whose – Asking About Possession

Use whose to ask who something belongs to.

• Whose + noun
  Whose car is this? / Whose books are those?
• Whose without a noun
  Whose is this car? / Whose are those books?
• Answers with ’s
  “Whose is this car?” → “It’s John’s (car).” or “It’s John’s.”